THE BIG CON GAME

When it comes to gun violence, perhaps the most insidious deception played on the public is by state and federal legislatures deals with superficial laws. The Virginia House of Delegates excels at pulling the wool over the eyes of the public when it comes to domestic abuse and gun violence.

After the Virginia Tech rampage, the Virginia Senate unanimously passed a law making security plans a requirement for all colleges and universities in the state. The plan specified that college and university presidents had to certify that they had read and understand the plan.

The Virginia lower house, however, refused to pass the bill until the language stating school presidents understood the law was taken out.  Striking those words means no school president can be held accountable for failing to follow the security plan. They can always say they did not understand it.

On a cynical note, Virginians must be proud of the fact they have a law stating college and university presidents don’t have to understand what they read.

Now, Richmond has done it again. On July 16, 2016 a new provision of the law prohibits a person who is subject to a family abuse protection order (the respondent) from possessing a firearm. Sounds good, but is it?

 Looks and sounds good, right? Well, let’s take a close look.

The law states that after the respondent is served with the protective order, he or she has 24 hours to lawfully possess the weapon solely for the purpose of transferring or selling the firearm to a person who may legally own it. The law does not give the police the power to see that the person being restrained complies with the order. If the respondent says he or she turned in the gun, sold it, or gave it to someone who can possess the gun, law enforcement has to believe him or her. There is no mechanism for ensuring that the person being restrained has truly complied.

Furthermore, if an individual is so violent that the courts have to step in, what makes the legislature think the respondent will suddenly cool off and meekly comply?

And, the law only applies to subjects of family abuse protective orders pursuant to Virginia Code Section 16.1-279.1 and does not apply to individuals subject to an emergency, temporary or other protective order.

The law is nothing more than window dressing; it is in fact, next to worthless. It adds to the growing list of laws in the Old Dominion designed to hoodwink the public into thinking politicians are moving to prevent gun violence.

NEW BOOK PUBLISHED

            My new book, A Handbook For Intelligence And Crime Analysis, was published July 14^th.

            It was a long time in the making but was worth it. There are 18 chapters in the book, but it contains two important chapters I am especially proud of—one on the Corruption of Intelligence and the other on Deception Analysis.

            The first should be of interest to everyone because the attempts to manipulate and distort intelligence by our elected officials have reached epidemic proportions. Unfortunately, a significant number of elected Republicans, Democrats, and Tea Party members do not think twice about trying to skew intelligence. I believe the objectivity, integrity, and honesty of intelligence products are vital keys to the preservation of our form of representative government.

            Indeed, perhaps the most valuable service intelligence analysts can perform is to tell policymakers what they don’t want to hear—analysis that differs from their bias, prejudices and, in some cases, their policies.

            The second should also be of interest to a large number of readers because it looks at deception in all its forms as developed and practiced by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Terrorists, human and drug traffickers, and a wide variety of enemies of this country have adopted the principles of Soviet-style deception. And remember, Vladimir Putin is a former KGB intelligence officer, so I am sure deception is a major tool in the arsenal. 

Deception comes in many forms and is an every day problem intelligence and crime analysts face. Most texts on deception concentrate on deception as carried out in a military or political context, failing to recognize self-deception is a major cause of intelligence failures. A friend of mine, with over 40 years experience in intelligence, tells his classes that no analyst can come to a problem or situation with a clean slate. He or she will always have preconceptions or assumptions.  The assumptions may be correct, but the analyst often does not step back and reevaluate when dealing with a new problem. Judgments, he says, tend to get firmer in analysts minds and they rarely revisit them.

Sometimes self-deception and deceptive practices of the opposition come together and result in devastating consequences. This textbook reminds, and in some cases, alerts analysts (and interested non-professionals) to the pitfalls of deception in all forms.

PROGRESS: NEW FIREARMS LAWS IN VIRGINIA

            On July 1, 2016, two new firearms laws went into effect in Virginia making some progress toward keeping weapons out of criminals’ hands. The new laws are a minor step forward despite lifting restrictions on reciprocity involving concealed-weapons permits from other states.

            The first law states the holder of a valid concealed handgun or concealed weapon permit or license issued by another state may carry a concealed weapon in Virginia. The Virginia law, however, requires that:

1.    The holder of such a non-Virginia license or permit must be at least 21 years old.

2.    The permit or license holder must carry a photo identification issued by a government agency of any state or the U.S. Department of Defense or U.S. Department of State.

3.    The permit or license holder must show that identification to law enforcement officers upon demand.

4.    The permit or license holder reciprocity does not extend to persons who previously have had a Virginia concealed handgun permit revoked.

The new law does not require other states recognize Virginia permits in order to have a state’s permits recognized in Virginia.

The second law requires the Virginia State Police to be available at all gun shows to do background checks. The law stops short of making the background checks mandatory but is a step forward in ensuring that guns are transferred only to people who are lawfully eligible to possess weapons.

            Private citizen’s participation in these background checks is strictly voluntary. There is an incentive for sellers to have the check done, however, because it documents the seller’s diligence in trying to prevent the illegal transfer of guns.

           

RETHINK OUR FREEDOMS AND THEN ACT

            In the wake of the Orlando rampage, all of us need to rethink our freedoms in order to protect innocent Americans from being slaughtered in theaters, nightclubs, restaurants, schools, and homes. All places once thought to be safe.

The balance between collective security and individual rights needs a thorough re-examination. We begin this examination by acknowledging there are restrictions on all the amendments to the Constitution. We do not use the First Amendment to guarantee newspapers and media companies a profit. Why should we use the Second Amendment to guarantee gun manufactures make money?

            The Second Amendment should not be an exception to restrictions. Untethered access to automatic, rapid-fire weapons designed to kill people should not be allowed. If someone is suspected of terrorism, he or she is on the No Fly List. Yet that same individual can go into any gun store, almost anywhere and buy arms and ammunitions—no questions asked.

            We must not support any politician or candidate running for a U.S. elected office whether it is the Presidency, Senator, Representative, Governor, state or local official who will not help or work with others to support gun safety.

            Do not vote for any one running for office who will not pledge to work toward ending gun violence. Do not allow these individuals to hold the honored position of representing U.S. citizens.

All of us can begin to curb the violence today by calling our senators and urging them to vote in favor of pending legislation that would block people on the No Fly List from buying guns. Make it clear if your senator does not support the legislation, he or she will lose your vote.

GENTLEMEN: WE ARE THE PROBLEM: WE NEED TO FIX IT

            Approximately 97% of mass murderers are males; they invariably signal their intent to commit violence through a variety of traits: most notably, their problems with women.

The Orlando killer, Omar Mateen, beat his first wife and a friend quoted him as saying he “hated women because you have to be nice to them to get sex.” Seung Sui Cho stalked and harassed women at Virginia Tech before he went on his rampage; Peter Odighizwa, the killer at the Appalachian School of Law, was also a wife beater and at one point took control of a class, ranting about the evils of women; and Isla Vista, California murder Elliot Roger, threw things at women who did not pay attention to him and lamented he was still a virgin and had never even kissed a girl.

How many more examples of threatening traits are needed before we take action to keep guns out of the hands of these monsters?

How about starting with laws prohibiting men who stalk, harass, or beat women from owning any gun at all. And let’s not stop there. Any man who drags an unconscious woman behind a dumpster and rapes her, is an out-of-control low-life who should never be allowed to own a weapon.

Does it ever occur to these sick men that these are mothers, daughters, wives, and aunts: the women we love.

Gentlemen you can do something about these shootings. Your manhood is not measured by the size of your gun; it is measured by the size of your backbone and your willingness to speak up.

If you want to be a man, don’t buy a gun, speak up and demand laws to put an end to this violence.